SHOCK CONFESSION! Joseph Duggar Admits His Family Is Part of a Secretive Cult in Resurfaced Clip
Jackson Duggar is denying a long-standing rumor about his family.
During Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest conference in December 2025, the youngest Duggar son was interviewed by an attendee while Jackson’s father Jim Bob Duggar and several of his younger sisters stood beside him.
The clip resurfaced in March 2026 following news Jackson’s brother Joseph and sister-in-law Kendrawere arrested.
When asked to name something about the family’s TV show 19 Kids and Counting that no one knows about, Jackson responded, “A lot of people think we were in a cult, and we were not in a cult.”
The interviewer then asked why people assumed he and his family were apart of a cult.
“Because of a man named Bill Gothard who went around, and he shared the gospel and did some different things, but he also had some other things that were kind of off,” Jackson explained.
Bill Gothard was the founder of the Institute in Basic Life Principles, a fundamentalist Christian organization that the Duggar family was apart of. In 2014, he stepped down as the leader of the IBLP after 34 women accused him of sexual harassment and molestation.
“We went to his conferences once or twice a year, we were involved a lot with what he did, but we were not apart of everything,” Jackson added.
The 21-year-old also used the opportunity to praise his parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar.
“We grew up with great parents who taught us about the Bible and shared the gospel with us,” he said.
He ended the interview by addressing the 2023 Prime Video documentary, Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets, that exposed emotional, physical, and sexual abuse that occurred within the IBLP.
“People try to give you lies, they try to feed you lies, but the truth in the end will win out,” Jackson said.
Jackson has yet to publicly address the arrest of his brother and sister-in-law.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org.
